As part of Cri_Lab, an experimental workshop at Marquês de Pombal Secondary School in Lisbon, students (aged from 15 to 19) participated in ten weekly sessions exploring art production as a research methodology. The objective of the project was to cultivate awareness of space, territory and architecture, through artistic and cultural connections, contributing to an informed practice of citizenship. This paper will focus on two photography sessions, where students photographed and developed their own work as a way of critically analysing the school space. The paper examines transdisciplinary art and design approaches in education, revisiting the produced work by analogy to Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach (1936). This book combines textual and photographic elements in order to explore themes such as education, freedom and identity. These themes are of particular significance within the context of creative practices in learning. The paper will first introduce the Cri_Lab project and photography as an art-based research method with potential connections to art, design and space education. The subsequent discussion will entail a detailed comparison and analysis of the two photography sessions' planning and implementation, culminating in a presentation of the ensuing results and outputs. Finally, the discussion will conclude with an examination of the results through the lenses of the ideas presented in Jonathan Livingston Seagull. The sessions encouraged interaction with the environment, using photography as a tool for critical analysis. In the challenging socio-economic context of the school, artistic practices fostered dialogue, inclusion, and engagement, emphasizing the role of creative narratives in critical thinking and identity formation.

Escola secundária Marquês de Pombal

Art education,Photography,Art-based research,Visual essay,Jonathan Livingston seagull